The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-05-18
NAVAL CADETS.S
ADMIRAL PORTER DESCRIBES
THE ANNAPOLIS ACADEMY.
How it was Esta tablished-What -
Required Of Would-be Pupilg-
Fitting Boys for Officers
in the Navy, Etc.

It would be tedious, says Admiral
David Porter, in Youths Companion, to
enumerate the many efforts made by
naval officers to obtain an appropriation
from Congress for the establishment of q
naval school; but the parsimony which
ruled the national Legislature prevented
their success, and until 1S45, nothing of
consequence was effected in the direction
of higher education for those who were
to command our ships and squadrons.
But new era dawned upon the navy
with the appointment of Mr.. George Ban
croft as Secretary of the Navy. Mr.. Ban
croft was man of learning, who thor
oughly appreciated the value of ediIca-
ton to q body of officers who were ex-
pected to properly represent their country
abroad in more than ,one capacity.
Mr.. Bancroft one day asked an officer
of the navy what he could best do to
make his administration of naval affairs
remembered. Establish Naval Acad-
emy, sir" was the answer, 'tand the navy
will remember you forever"
cit shall be DONE" said the Secretary;
and soon afterward, with the simple
means then at the disposal of the Navy
Department, including number Of COM
petent naval instructors, the academy was
established, on the 10th of October, 1845,
at "Fort Severn" its present site.
Fort Severn was an old army post es-
tablished by the Government in 1903, at
time when Annapolis was considered
point of military Importance. The
grounds and buildings were transferred
by the War to the Navy Department, ,-s.,T
The officers quarters, storehouses, etc,
were utilized for the accommodation Of
the midshipmen and their instructors,
and other buildings added from time to-
as they were required, and as the neces.
sary funds could be procured from Com
gress. ..s... 80
At this day the Academy has assumed,
so far as the appliances for education are
concerned, an equality with West Point,
the course of study being equally scien-
tifc, though varied to suit the require
ments of the naval profession.
Great efforts are made by many young
gentlemen, from the age of fourteen up
to the age of eighteen, to obtain: the ap>>
pointment of cadet at the Naval Acad-
envy. Those who visit the place are
struck by the air of comfort and good
order that pervades every department..
The large building for the accommoda--
ton of the cadets, with its commodious
sleeping apartments, reception-rooms and
spacious dining-hall. with its Widespread
board, all look very tempting to the aver,
age youth, by comparison with the at
fractions of the boarding-school. ,''2 -
Then comes course OF worrying pa!
rents and friends to obtain an appoint.
ment at this admirable institution, where
o cadet receives salary of five hundred
dollars year besides his education, and
the prospect, in the future, of travelling
about the world in Government vessels
free of expense, and obtaining that prac-
tical knowledge which is not to be OBJ
tanned in books.
But now comes the question: What
kind of boy does the Government want to
educate for the position Of an officer2 1t
is certainly not one who enters the navy
merely to obtain a life position and amuse
himself in travelling, although such mo-
tives may be natural to youth; but the
Government is a stern master, with no
sympathy for anything outside the strict
line of duty.
The Naval Academy was established
in order that the cadets should obtain,
during their four years. course, the pro-
fessional and general information neces-
sary to enable the Government to utilize
their services, particularly in time OF
war. To succeed in the navy man must
be a worker, thinker and student.
The elements of navigation learned from
some old merchant captain in years gone
by would not answer for the naval officer
of to-day, and although, like his pre-
decessors, merely "food for gunpowder,"
he will have the satisfaction of dying
with his head filled with calculus, and
thoroughly imbued with those beautiful
devices for the destruction of life and
property. ~
There is no institution where so many
subjects bearing on the naval profession
are studied as at the Annapolis Academy,
ending in the fourth year of the course
with the higher branches of mathematics,
naval architecture and construction, :
naval tactics, ordnance, steam, fortiica-
ton, drawing, international law, and 9
variety of practical exercises and detail
studies. :,
A professor from Harvard University,
who was recently member OF the Annual
Board of Examiners at Annapolis, pro-
nouneed the Academy course to be better
learned, considering the variety of sub
iects studied, than that at Cambridge.
But these were not ordinary boys whom
the professor commended; they were ex-
anples of the Survival of the fittest,"
selections from the fourth, third, second
and first classes, weeded out from course
to course, until but fraction OF the
original number remained in the Acad-
envy.
It may be thought that the academic
course is unnecessarily severe, and that
the Government exacts too much in the
way of theoretical study from the cadets;
but if ten only in every hundred who
start in the race reach the highest honors,
that is a reason why the Government
should aim at high standard, tor le Is
better to get ten accomplished scholars
than larger number of indifferent ones:
There is reason for everything, and II
is certain that those who reach the win
ming post, in majority of instances, owe
their success to the fact that they were
properly prepared when they entered the
academy: that they were of robust con-
stitution, and active habits; that they
were steady, and methodical, and care